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Bratislava Sept 17 (CTK) – People travelling from the Czech Republic to Slovakia can bypass the intended travel restrictions valid as of Friday by entering Slovakia via Poland or Austria, Slovak PM Igor Matovič has admitted, adding that hopefully, people will obey the anti-coronavirus rules.
As a result of the surge in COVID-19 cases in the Czech Republic, the country will be on the Slovak list of risk countries as of September 18.
In general, travelers from the Czech Republic to Slovakia will need a negative COVID-19 test. Without it, they will be put in precautionary quarantine and tested a few days later.
“If someone wants to circumvent the system, they will drive through Austria, through Poland,” Matovic told journalists on Wednesday.
“In the situation where we do not have our borders ‘hermetically sealed’, we are not enable to enforce the rules everywhere. Similarly as during the first wave of the epidemic, we rely on the fact that 70, 80, sometimes even 90 percent of people are reasonable.”
When a significant part of people observe the rules, it is enough to curb the pandemic, he added.
The conditions of the regime at border crossings that will be applicable as of Friday will be released by the Slovak chief public health officer later today.
According to previous information, travelers from the Czech Republic to Slovakia will either need a negative COVID-19 test no older than 72 hours, or go into a five-day quarantine and subsequently get tested.
Slovak politicians stated that the border checks would be only random.
The exception to the “test or quarantine” rule will apply to commuters within 30-kilometer distance from the closest border crossing, students, teachers, researchers, healthcare workers, farmers, critical infrastructure and social workers, as well as some athletes and artists.
